Non-pneumatic tires and wheels have been disclosed. By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,194, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes a non-pneumatic tire. In an exemplary embodiment, this non-pneumatic tire includes an outer annular shear band and a plurality of web spokes that extend transversely across and radially inward from the annular band and are connected to a hub. In certain exemplary embodiments, the annular shear band may further comprise a shear layer, at least a first membrane adhered to the radially inward extent of the shear layer and at least a second membrane adhered to the radially outward extent of the shear layer. Under load, the annular band deforms in the contact area with the ground surface through a mechanism that includes shear deformation of the annular band. In addition to the ability to operate without a required inflation pressure, the invention of U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,194 provides advantages that include a more uniform ground contact pressure throughout the length of the contact area, which in turn provides performance characteristics similar to a pneumatic tire without certain drawbacks of prior non-pneumatic tires.
For non-pneumatic constructions such as e.g., the invention described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,201,194, the web spokes transmit tension forces between the hub and outer annular band. The outer annular band supports a tread portion. By way of example, the web spokes and tread portion can be constructed from rubber and/or polymer materials that, in certain applications, may wear or be damaged during the lifetime of the wheel. For constructions where the web spokes or tread portion are permanently attached to the hub or integrated permanently into a structure that includes the hub, replacement of the web spokes and/or tread portion can require discarding the hub as well when the hub would otherwise by reusable. In addition, for certain applications it may be desirable to manufacture the hub from a different material than used in the construction of the web spokes including e.g., a metal construction for the hub and a polymeric construction for the web spokes. In such case, integral attachment of the hub and the web spokes may be not be practical or would be undesirable.
Accordingly, non-pneumatic wheel having a removable hub portion would be useful. A non-pneumatic wheel assembly having a removable hub portion that may be reused and/or constructed from a different material than the web spokes or other portions of the wheel would be particularly useful. These and other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the description that follows.